dotSource and SGHG Ingenieure: intercultural excellence

Presentation of the i-work Business Award 2019

Open-minded, international and shaping real integration: yesterday, the digital agency dotSource in the "Large Companies" category and SGHG Planungs- und Prüfgesellschaft Bautechnik mbH in the "SMEs - small and medium-sized enterprises" category received the i-work Business Award for this entrepreneurial achievement. The award for exemplary intercultural openness in companies from Jena and the region was presented by the Thuringian Minister of Labor Heike Werner (DIE LINKE) as patron of the competition in the Villa Rosenthal. The competition was organized for the third time by the Jena Economic Development Agency (JenaWirtschaft) and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU).

Economic success through cultural diversity

"The motto of the award is 'Economic success through cultural diversity'," emphasized Minister Werner in her laudatory speech. "Against this backdrop, both companies have launched exemplary concepts and measures to shape the everyday working lives of people with and without a migration background in a collaborative and sustainable way." Both companies - and all 11 participants in the competition - had convincingly demonstrated in their applications the great added value that can be gained through cultural diversity, said the Minister. The jury - consisting of international employees and representatives from business, the state, FSU Jena and JenaWirtschaft - was particularly impressed by both companies' approach of involving the entire team in the arrival process and clearly focusing on the satisfaction of all team members.

The digital agency dotSource is delighted to have won the award in the "Large Companies" category. "As a Jena-based company, we love the diversity, tolerance and openness to the world in the city of light that is Jena. We want to help keep it that way. We focus on the satisfaction of everyone - both nationally and internationally - in order to attract more well-trained employees through them and their recommendations. We score points with further training and promotion opportunities, a special working atmosphere and an open-minded and inquisitive team," says Managing Director Christian Otto Grötsch, describing the dotSource strategy. According to Grötsch, the company also provides support in finding accommodation and dealing with the authorities and offers flexible working hours, for example to enable employees to complete language courses. All information, including English job descriptions and targeted personnel marketing, particularly in the area of social media, are also part of the international portfolio.

Intercultural exchange

For the winners in the "Small and medium-sized companies" category, SGHG Ingenieure, international activities and the international origin of the team members are now also normal. The advantages of these interculturally mixed teams are clear to Managing Director Dr. Holger Keitel: "All employees get to know other cultures through the exchange and become more open to new things. Getting to know the differences in work and communication culture enables greater flexibility in action strategies and prepares employees for working in rapidly changing requirements and uncertain situations." According to Keitel, small companies face particular challenges when it comes to integrating foreign team members due to limited human and financial resources, but these can be easily solved with local expertise: "We have had very good experiences working with reliable local partners. For example, we have developed our onboarding concept in cooperation with the FSU Jena's WOM project - Weltoffen Miteinander Arbeiten - and also use established formats such as the Jena Economic Development Agency's Welcome Service."

"Our concept focuses in particular on getting to know each other socially," says Keitel. The "newcomers" are accompanied by a mentor to help them settle into the family team. The company also provides support in finding accommodation, getting to know the city and dealing with important authorities. Last but not least, SGHG Ingenieure offers international specialists the opportunity to work on a trial basis in advance to get to know the company structure, work content and, of course, the local team. "For foreign employees, the step of coming to Jena is much bigger than for people from the region," says Keitel. The work trial provides the basis for both sides to make the right decision.

Jena - international and cosmopolitan

In the long term, the topic of "internationality" is also on the agenda of the Jena Economic Development Agency. Ramona Scheiding, Head of Skilled Labor Services at JenaWirtschaft, names various goals that go hand in hand with the awarding of the intercultural company prize: "The results of our Jena2030 skilled labor study confirm that the local economy's need for skilled labor can only be met through exogenous potential, i.e. people with a migration background. To achieve this, Jena must remain an attractive and cosmopolitan location and companies must establish a genuine welcoming culture," says Scheiding. "With the i-work company award, we want to make visible how international the Jena region and its companies already are. We can show those who want to become more interculturally diverse what exemplary measures already exist and how everyone can benefit from this openness."

i-work applicants 2019

The following companies applied:

• Accenture GmbH
• AWO Regionalverband Mitte-West-Thüringen e.V.
• dotSource GmbH
• Hotel an der Therme Bad Sulza
• Jenoptik AG
• Salesforce.com Germany GmbH
• SGHG Engineers
• TAF mobile GmbH
• TD Software GmbH
• VACOM Vakuum Komponenten & Messtechnik GmbH
• ZEUS GmbH, training center of the HBS Elektrobau group of companies